1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications, and more particularly pertains to a method and apparatus for sending recorded telephonic messages, and for enabling the automated recording of the messages on an answering machine or voicemail system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As described in the co-pending patent application entitled “Voice Message Delivery Method and System,” voice messaging systems are known and used for sending and receiving messages between users that are Subscribers of the system. These prior art voice messaging systems require that a Subscriber dial into the system to (1) check to see if there are any messages in the voice mailbox, and (2) listen to the messages. These systems are not widely used among residential customers because many residential customers already use existing stand-alone answering machines and have no need or interest in maintaining a separate voice mailbox. In addition, a sender of a message cannot be sure when the Subscriber will (1) notice that a new message is present within his voice mailbox, and (2) listen to the message. Only when the Subscriber has completed both of these steps will the Subscriber receive the Sender's information.
Because of these and other limitations, the utility of existing voice messaging systems is quite low. As such, it can be appreciated that further improvements are needed in such a system.